Friday, September 28, 2001

The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ by Suzanne Lainson

The only pre-tragedy event of the fall season that I attended was the Colorado Internet Keiretsu (http://www.cik.org) Apres Work event in Boulder. These are held in a private room at Triana and are a very casual get-together. Average attendance seems to be about 20....The food and atmosphere were great, as usual. Triana, picked by Westword as the best new restaurant of 2001 in the Denver/Boulder area, is always full....

All events were canceled the week of the World Trade Center tragedy. The following week, on Monday September 17, I stopped in at the Coors Event Center for the Boulder Software Club (http://www.bouldersoftware.org) VC presentation panel....

On September 19, the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (http://www.yeo.org) held a social event at Triana. By the time I got there, everyone was already seated, so I grabbed the first available chair, which turned out to be next to David Hieb of Namewise (http://www.namewise.com). He's part owner of Triana....

While the event was billed as tapas and wine-tasting, it was really a sit-down dinner. Five courses, five wines. The food was wonderful and included oysters, arugula salad, salmon, lamb and lentils, and poached pears. I had to go light on the alcohol since I had an all-nighter ahead of me to finish up two articles for eMileHigh (http://www.emilehigh.com).

On Thursday September 20, I went to an outdoor party in Boulder thrown by KPMG (http://www. kpmg.com), Silicon Valley Bank (http://www.svb.com), and Sequel Venture Partners (http://www.sequelvc.com). It was an island theme. There was a steel drum band playing and we got tropical drinks in souvenir mugs. I spent time talking to Mark Weakley of Holme Roberts & Owen (http://www.hro.com) and Dave DuPont of LeftHand Networks (http://www. lefthandnetworks.com) about recent events and about music. I also spotted Catharine Merigold of Vista Ventures (http://www.vistavc.com). Adding to the pleasant atmosphere was a charming little red-headed girl in a long dress displaying her considerable dancing skills. It was a nice touch after a long two weeks.

ADV ~ NYNMA SuperCyberSuds

NYNMA's 7th Annual Super CyberSuds(TM) is being true to its roots! No hype, no insanity - just quality and community. The exhibitors ARE the show, and we're highlighting the best of New York's high tech and new media stars. If your company is driving tomorrow's trends and you want to market your brand to over 4000 professionals, meet potential clients, recruit top talent, and gain media exposure, get involved in Super CyberSuds now! Attendees: Join www.nynma.org today and save on registration! To exhibit, - contact Brian. To sponsor, - contact Rich For more information: http://www.supercybersuds.org

ADV ~ Bouchard for City Council

* Benefit for Michelle Bouchard, running for City Council, 3rd District
* Monday, October 1 at the China Club from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
* More Info/ Reserve your spot today!

The tragic events of September 11 have changed forever the landscape of our great city. But we have emerged more unified, more determined, and with a renewed sense of what is important. We have also emerged with a better appreciation of how important our city government is at this critical moment. It is the next Mayor and City Council that will be charged with making decisions that will affect us all for decades to come. However, we can no longer afford to have a Do-Nothing City Council. For years, the City Council has been New York's greatest undeveloped resource, squandering its power and potential on marginal issues that don't affect the vast majority of us. Time and again the Council has failed to fully exercise its authority to make the city run efficiently and responsibly. We need a City Council with new skills and new perspectives. Unlike my opponent, I don't have big contributions from special interests - just mostly small contributions and the $150 ticket donation will be used to fund outreach to all the constituents in the 3rd District. In good times, the Council's shortcoming didn't matter as much. The Council could avoid tough decisions and simply pass larger and larger budgets, knowing that it could rely on rising tax revenues that came from economic expansion. They could cater to special interests and let the rest of us fend for ourselves. We no longer have that luxury. It must have members who have the responsibility, experience and fortitude to make hard choices - and make them wisely.
* More Info/ Reserve your spot today!

ADV ~ Masur and Filler Offer Services

Masur and Associates (www.masurlaw.com) and the Law Offices of Stephen Filler (www.nylawline.com) are offering free legal consultations to businesses affected by the WTC tragedy. Contact Stephen Filler, Esq. at sfiller@nylawline.com, Cell 917-213-0303 or Steven Masur, Esq. at smasur@masurlaw.com, Cell: 917-613-8321.

Bits & Bytes ~ 9/28/01

Got news? Let Courtney Pulitzer Creations know what's going on in and around
Silicon Alley. Mail me at gina@pulitzer.com

Indie Rocks
Bringing indie film to life for budding Tarantinos and casual weekend movie-goers alike, IFCTV.com new site, is drawing users deep inside the world of independent film. The site, designed by New York shop Funny Garbage, features information about movies, interviews with actors and directors, background on topics like the digital revolution, behind-the-scenes looks at indie events and film festivals, and programming from The Independent Film Channel.

Libby McInerny, IFCTV.com's content, says that the redesign comes at a time when the interest in indie films is becoming mainstream. "There has been a proliferation of independent film over the past several years with many actors, directors and writers crossing back and forth between independent and larger films. We have seen casual movie-goers become independent film fans."

Two for the Trophy Case
Marketing software maker, Inceptor, Inc., recently won the "Best e-tailVision Services and Solutions" award at the RetailVision Fall 2001 conference.  The company's Excedia Software was also selected as a finalist for the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council's annual MIMC Awards.

A giddy Larry Cleary, President and COO of Inceptor remarked, "This is an exciting time for Inceptor. Recognition at not just one but two major industry events in the same month shows that conversion marketing as defined by Inceptor is not only making a difference with customers, it's also resonating with our industry colleagues."

Razorfish, Staying Sharp
Once again, Razorfish proves its mettle overseas. The NYC born digital solutions company announced its engagement by STELLA Entertainment in Germany to re-launch their ticket broker site. The deal gives the company another stake in the area of Media and Entertainment industry, and widens their presence in Germany.

And closer to home, Razorfish announced the expansion of their "Digital Insight" workshop seminar. As part of its ongoing partnership with Microsoft, Razorfish, is now offering a seminar called .NET. For more information on this or other workshops, contact Ken Leahy at Razorfish at 617-250-2285, or via e-mail at ken.leahy@razorfish.com.

Open for Business Means Business
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania just announced a relaunch of their current Open for Business Website. The site is designed to help businesses find information about relocating or setting up shop in the state. New features include a universal log-in and a wizard which smartly helps businesses determine which legal and state forms they will need to register or maintain a business.

Tooning In
The Cartoon Network last week premiered Toonami: Lockdown, the network's latest Total Immersion Cartoon event.  Lockdown was the second such event that brought together an on-air, computer-generated miniseries and an online multi-level, role-playing game, converging them into a story line.  Sean Akins, Toonami creative director.  "Last year's Intruder was a tremendous success for us, Lockdown is light years beyond where we were back then."

>> CYBER SCENE SOCIAL NOTES ~ 9/28/01


In an attempt to help facilitate better networking for new media professionals and "Scenesters," here are some points that will be added during the weeks. They will be archived.

** The United States flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

** The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

** For more rules and regulations on the proper display and care of our flag
http://www.usflag.org/usflag.html

Benefit for Michelle Bouchard

=================================================ADV
* Benefit for Michelle Bouchard, running for City Council, 3rd District
* Monday, October 1 at the China Club from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
* http://www.electbouchard.com/Benefit.htm

The tragic events of September 11 have changed forever the landscape of our great city.  But we have emerged more unified, more determined, and with a renewed sense of what is important. We have also emerged with a better appreciation of how important our city government is at this critical moment. It is the next Mayor and City Council that will be charged with making decisions that will affect us all for decades to come. However, we can no longer afford to have a Do-Nothing City Council. For years, the City Council has been New York's greatest undeveloped resource, squandering its power and potential on marginal issues that don't affect the vast majority of us. Time and again the Council has failed to fully exercise its authority to make the city run efficiently and responsibly.  We need a City Council with new skills and new perspectives. Unlike my opponent, I don't have big contributions from special interests - just mostly small contributions and the $150 ticket donation will be used to fund outreach to all the constituents in the 3rd District. In good times, the Council's shortcoming didn't matter as much.  The Council could avoid tough decisions and simply pass larger and larger budgets, knowing that it could rely on rising tax revenues that came from economic expansion.  They could cater to special interests and let the rest of us fend for ourselves. We no longer have that luxury.  It must have members who have the responsibility, experience and fortitude to make hard choices - and make them wisely.  
* http://www.electbouchard.com/Benefit.htm
=================================================ADV

TCS Intro ~ 9/28/01

Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene ~ September 28, 2001

>> THIS WEEK
Publisher's Note (Poems)
WWWAC Rocks wacky relief
Terrorism and Venture Capital ~ the tenuous dance
The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ by Suzanne Lainson
The Cyber Scene in San Diego ~ by Lilia Phleger Benjamin

>> REGULAR FEATURES
Cyber Scene Social Notes
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits & Bytes

>> SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE
"The Cyber Scene" is published weekly. Subscriptions are free. To
subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.pulitzer.com/subunsub.html

http://www.ewomp.com/CustomSolutions/cgi-bin/imgclk2.pl?id=P1N1H5R1&sid=161

>> CORPORATE PARTNERS
Sparklist -- Mailing list services
http://SparkLIST.com/

>> UPCOMING EVENTS
Stardust Circle ~ October 3 ~ NYC
Sponsored by Ardesta ~ www.ardesta.com, Small Times ~ www.smalltimes.com, InternetWire ~ www.internetwire.com
The Business of Nanotechnology.
More info: http://www.pulitzer.com/stardustcircle/index.html

Stardust Circle ~ October 4 ~ NYC
Wireless: what's getting funded and why?
In collaboration with The Consulate General of Sweden, Invest in Sweden Agency, Elastic Agency, InternetWire
More info: http://www.capitalmarketsweden.com/wirelessfall2001/

Cocktails with Courtney ~ October 23 ~ NYC
Sponsored by Microsoft ~ www.microsoft.com

Cocktails with Courtney ~ November ~ NYC
Sponsored by 3 Legged Dog ~ www.3leggeddog.org

=================================================

The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ by Suzanne Lainson

On September 28, Red Herring came to town and threw a luncheon, "The Future of Venture Capitalism." It was at the Brown Palace and I got there just about the time everyone was sitting down to eat. There was a chair next to Andre Pettigrew, assistant superintendent of the Denver Public School System, so I grabbed it. After lunch we heard from a panel made up of three local VCs: Kyle Lefhoff, general partner of Boulder Ventures (http://www.boulderventures.com), who talked about health care, Steve Halstedt, managing director of Centennial Ventures, who talked about telecom, and Rick Patch, a partner with Sequel Ventures (http://www.sequelvc.com), who talked about IT.

That evening, SpireMedia (http://www.spiremedia.com) had an open house. It was an ADCD (Art Directors Club of Denver) and AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts/Colorado Chapter) event so virtually all the attendees were members of the Denver design community rather than Internet and tech event regulars. Spire's offices are on several floors in the historical Daniels and Fisher Warehouse #2 in LoDo. As I would have expected from Spire, it had a nice laid-back atmosphere with a dog in residence. (The place reminded me quite a bit of Sports & Fitness Publishing, the Boulder magazine publishing company where I used to do market research. After a buyout, the principals went on to form Radar Communication, a qualitative research company and trends spotter.) Wandering around Spire, I saw Mike Gellman looking CEOish in his office. And Brett Madden and Brandon Shevin were out and about chatting with attendees. I met CFO Curt Johnson and I had a chance to talk at length to Terry Logan who was telling me about the usability research Spire does. I also saw Erich Stein (http://www.erichstein.com), who is doing some industrial design work along with his PR consulting. As an aside, I heard from Dave Hieb who is Spire's new VP of sales.

On September 29, the Boulder Community Network (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/) had its seventh anniversary party at Trios. I had a chance to talk at length with the keynote speaker, Lisa Napoli, currently with MSNBC and MSNBC.com and formerly with the New York Times. This was her first flight out of New York since the World Trade Center disaster and she shared a story that John Cheever might have written for The New Yorker had he been alive today. On the plane from New York to Denver, sitting across the aisle from Lisa was a woman talking on a cell phone. She was reciting details of her will -- what to do with the pets, the name of the lawyer in Denver to handle her estate, the amount of her investments. Then she said goodbye just in case she died in route. If this wasn’t unnerving enough, Lisa realized the woman was leaving all of this information on voicemail. Presumably she hadn’t given much thought to preparing for death until she was sitting on a plane. And then her need to handle her affairs became so great that she was willing to recount it all to a machine. Just the thing to inspire confidence in airline travel. To read more about the BCN meeting, go to: http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001853&author=Lainson .
   
On October 2, First Tuesday (http://www.ftdenver.com) met at the Mile High Station. Approximately 700 people attended, which was an intentionally smaller turnout that last time. Director Tom Filippini said they wanted to reign in attendance a bit. As always, it was a great party. Among the VC community members I spotted were Catharine Merigold of Vista Ventures (http://www.vistavc.com), Sarah Gutterman of Boulder Ventures, Chris Wand of Softbank (http://www.sbvc.com), and Steve Swoboda of iBelay (http://www.ibelay.com).

Music was a popular conversation theme. Pete Dignan, CEO of ProtoTest (http://www.prototest.com), gave me a CD of Down to Gray (http://www.downtogray.com), his son's band. Phil Smith of RePlay Rich Media (http://www.replayhq.com) chatted about his business partner Chris, who is also plays drums for the band Running with Sally. Brian Smith, president of Sonant (http://www.sonanat.net), does some DJing. And singer/songwriter/rocker Wendy Woo (http://www.wendywoo.com) was there in her role as music entrepreneur.

Among those I talked to were Matt Brown, principal and creative director of ProMotif (http://www.promotif.com), Ronald Duce, VP, science and technology group, Kiewit Construction Company, Greg Houghtaling, business development manager for Fourthought (http://www.fourthought.com), Dan Lubar of dataDistributions (http://www.datadistributions.com), Jon Fetzer, VP of operations and product development for TamTam.com (http://www.tamtam.com), and Mark Weakley and Linda Wackwitz of Holme, Roberts & Owen (http://www.hro.com). To read more about the First Tuesday event, go to http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001852&author=Lainson .

The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ by Suzanne Lainson

On September 28, Red Herring came to town and threw a luncheon, "The Future of Venture Capitalism." It was at the Brown Palace and I got there just about the time everyone was sitting down to eat. There was a chair next to Andre Pettigrew, assistant superintendent of the Denver Public School System, so I grabbed it. After lunch we heard from a panel made up of three local VCs: Kyle Lefhoff, general partner of Boulder Ventures (http://www.boulderventures.com), who talked about health care, Steve Halstedt, managing director of Centennial Ventures, who talked about telecom, and Rick Patch, a partner with Sequel Ventures (http://www.sequelvc.com), who talked about IT.

That evening, SpireMedia (http://www.spiremedia.com) had an open house. It was an ADCD (Art Directors Club of Denver) and AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts/Colorado Chapter) event so virtually all the attendees were members of the Denver design community rather than Internet and tech event regulars. Spire's offices are on several floors in the historical Daniels and Fisher Warehouse #2 in LoDo. As I would have expected from Spire, it had a nice laid-back atmosphere with a dog in residence. (The place reminded me quite a bit of Sports & Fitness Publishing, the Boulder magazine publishing company where I used to do market research. After a buyout, the principals went on to form Radar Communication, a qualitative research company and trends spotter.) Wandering around Spire, I saw Mike Gellman looking CEOish in his office. And Brett Madden and Brandon Shevin were out and about chatting with attendees. I met CFO Curt Johnson and I had a chance to talk at length to Terry Logan who was telling me about the usability research Spire does. I also saw Erich Stein (http://www.erichstein.com), who is doing some industrial design work along with his PR consulting. As an aside, I heard from Dave Hieb who is Spire's new VP of sales.

On September 29, the Boulder Community Network (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/) had its seventh anniversary party at Trios. I had a chance to talk at length with the keynote speaker, Lisa Napoli, currently with MSNBC and MSNBC.com and formerly with the New York Times. This was her first flight out of New York since the World Trade Center disaster and she shared a story that John Cheever might have written for The New Yorker had he been alive today. On the plane from New York to Denver, sitting across the aisle from Lisa was a woman talking on a cell phone. She was reciting details of her will -- what to do with the pets, the name of the lawyer in Denver to handle her estate, the amount of her investments. Then she said goodbye just in case she died in route. If this wasn’t unnerving enough, Lisa realized the woman was leaving all of this information on voicemail. Presumably she hadn’t given much thought to preparing for death until she was sitting on a plane. And then her need to handle her affairs became so great that she was willing to recount it all to a machine. Just the thing to inspire confidence in airline travel. To read more about the BCN meeting, go to: http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001853&author=Lainson .
   
On October 2, First Tuesday (http://www.ftdenver.com) met at the Mile High Station. Approximately 700 people attended, which was an intentionally smaller turnout that last time. Director Tom Filippini said they wanted to reign in attendance a bit. As always, it was a great party. Among the VC community members I spotted were Catharine Merigold of Vista Ventures (http://www.vistavc.com), Sarah Gutterman of Boulder Ventures, Chris Wand of Softbank (http://www.sbvc.com), and Steve Swoboda of iBelay (http://www.ibelay.com).

Music was a popular conversation theme. Pete Dignan, CEO of ProtoTest (http://www.prototest.com), gave me a CD of Down to Gray (http://www.downtogray.com), his son's band. Phil Smith of RePlay Rich Media (http://www.replayhq.com) chatted about his business partner Chris, who is also plays drums for the band Running with Sally. Brian Smith, president of Sonant (http://www.sonanat.net), does some DJing. And singer/songwriter/rocker Wendy Woo (http://www.wendywoo.com) was there in her role as music entrepreneur.

Among those I talked to were Matt Brown, principal and creative director of ProMotif (http://www.promotif.com), Ronald Duce, VP, science and technology group, Kiewit Construction Company, Greg Houghtaling, business development manager for Fourthought (http://www.fourthought.com), Dan Lubar of dataDistributions (http://www.datadistributions.com), Jon Fetzer, VP of operations and product development for TamTam.com (http://www.tamtam.com), and Mark Weakley and Linda Wackwitz of Holme, Roberts & Owen (http://www.hro.com). To read more about the First Tuesday event, go to http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001852&author=Lainson

Thursday, September 27, 2001

Publisher's Note ~ I Believe

Apologies for the garbled message you received Friday. We've worked out the snafu with our provider. Here is the newsletter again for your reading pleasure.

Amidst a city of devastation, physically and emotionally, there are pockets of inspiration and beauty. Thursday night I walked past Rockefeller Center and was struck by the stillness, calm and magnificence surrounding this historic midtown location. The air was soft, temperate, sweet. The Rene Chambellan-designed fountains of bronze fish being ridden by either a mermaid or merman spouted a steady stream of water into shallow pools in the Channel Gardens. They stilled the nerves and soothed the senses aurally and visually. At the other end, Rockefeller Plaza was glittering in the reflection of the pastel-lit waterfall fountain with Prometheus. We were encircled in a copse of at least a hundred American flags that gently swayed in the occasional breeze. Awash in the peacefulness of the setting, I read John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s credo, which felt even more dear, more patriotic, more appropriate, gentle and true than perhaps when he wrote it over fifty years ago. I felt it so beautiful that I've included it in its entirety:

"I BELIEVE IN THE SUPREME WORTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND IN HIS RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

I Believe
That every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession a duty

I Believe
That the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master

I Believe
In the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living

I Believe
That thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs

I Believe
That truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order

I Believe
In the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character- not wealth or power or position- is of supreme worth

I Believe
That the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free

I Believe
In an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with his will

I Believe
That love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate: that right can and will triumph over might" - John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

I also felt this quote was particularly apt for New York during this time: "New York is not a completed city. … It is a city in the process of becoming. Today it belongs to the world. Without anyone expecting it, it has become the jewel in the crown of universal cities. … New York is a great diamond, hard and dry, sparkling, triumphant!" -Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret), 1947

Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Terrorism and Venture Capital ~ the tenuous dance

In quick response to the times and the industry, the New York Venture Group hosted a breakfast on Wednesday, September 26th on "How Terrorism will affect VC" at the New York Athletic Club. As if the technology industry didn't have a tough enough year, it's hard to imagine such a topic also being pertinent, and yet this is what it's come to. So here we are, networking, listening and discussing how something like terrorism will affect venture capital in the technology-related fields.

National Venture Capital Association president Mark Heeson spoke to the gathered group of attendees on the clear, crisp morn on a few different points. He began with a brief perspective. The industry was not in the best of times prior to September 11th. The mergers and acquisitions and IPO markets were not so great. And now, according to Heeson, September 11th extended the period where the IPO market will remain shut. Furthermore, corporations that were aggressively buying companies are becoming more conservative for the short term. Thus, Heeson surmised, if venture capitalists can't exit any of their companies soon, they'll have to hold onto them for a longer amount of time, which in turn means they can't invest in new companies. The issue gets more complicated and distressing because this is a good time to invest in new companies, Heeson reasons, because the entrepreneurs out there are really good. For the most part, the entrepreneurs that are out trying to get VC right now are serious entrepreneurs, they have a good business plan, have good management and the companies are being offered at great deals to the VC. It becomes a question of Time: entrepreneurs don't have much of it to stay afloat, and VCs now have to grapple with time management between old investments and new potential ones.

Heeson has been at the helm of the NVCA for two years but has been within its corridors for eleven doing public policy. Before that he gained experience as a tax attorney and lobbyist with the Texas State legislature and a former governor of Pennsylvania. The 28-year-old Arlington, VA-based organization represents 430 venture capital firms in the US, which is 90% of the industry. From this perspective, they can see what's going on in a national level and also keep their fingers on the pulse internationally. Heeson noted that European investors have paused with their investing in US venture capital deals. "It's not the best time for VC investing." However, he points out that "they were so dramatic. They pulled out thinking they won't invest in US deals, but rethought their decision because they saw us regroup quickly." The fact that we got our markets back up to speed and resumed business so efficiently gave a strong vote of confidence to European investors.

There's more good news too. This year the amount of money raised and the amount of money put in companies will be the third best year ever for VC nationwide, despite the number being half that of last year. Heeson rounds up "we'll continue to have our ups and downs, but we're not going away. This is an asset class that's not going away." And there are some new investing opportunities as a result of the terrorist attacks. There's increased attention on wireless technologies beyond just cell phones. And the stuff they make James Bond movies out of--voice recognition, digital fingerprinting-are coming center stage as viable investments. Good ol' industries like energy, too, are looking like attractive investments and important markets to focus on.

One thing is for sure: life has not and will not be the same after September 11th. And the reverberations in the investment community are just beginning to ripple. There will be many more for a long time, each with an interesting play associated with it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

The Cyber Scene in San Diego ~ by Lilia Phleger Benjamin

It appears that things are moving forward again after such a tragic past few weeks. While initially the talk was of the horrific events, now conversations at networking events and business meetings seem to be focused on how we are going to keep afloat in the economy. As can be expected, entrepreneurs with start-ups and those employed in the tech fields are most concerned.

It was a topic I discussed with Jeffrey Starr of Mission Ventures, whom I met at a recent TiE San Diego meeting in La Jolla. According to Jeffrey, Mission Ventures http://www.missionventures.com is still looking for the next great thing, despite the economy; however, they seem to be doing a lot of "hand-holding and refocusing right now." We spoke too of the trend to take advantage of this downtime by attending programs designed to assist the entrepreneur and technology worker - programs like the TechNetEd series at the San Diego Regional Technology Alliance (SDRTA) http://www.sdrta.org/, the eSeries by the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) http://www.fwe.org/socal/, the SCORE programs, and university based programs like the SDSU College of Extended Studies http://www.ces.sdsu.edu/. When all is said and done, San Diego should have one of the most educated and well-prepared workforces at the ready!

Speaking of TiE San Diego http://www.tiesandiego.org/, I was once again struck by what a great group this is when I attended their September 25th chapter meeting. All proceeds from the event went directly into a Red Cross relief fund, and the meeting itself of over 60 people began with a full minute of silence. Chapter president Suren Dutia also made mention of one of their members who had moved to New York City just days before the attack in order to begin his job at the WTC on September 10th. The loss of this young man, newly married, deeply affected Dutia and TiE San Diego.

The speaker of the evening was Arjun Malhotra, chairman and CEO of TechSpan http://www.techspan.com/ on the topic The Current Economic Slowdown: Threat or Opportunity for Entrepreneurs? I had the opportunity to speak to Malhotra prior to the presentation, which gave me a chance to hear about how he and five of his friends started the first "garage computer company" in India in 1975. Armed with pooled finances of about $17,500 and working in his grandmother's attic (the Indian version of garage), the team started Hindustan Computing Ltd (HCL)-which is now the largest IT company in India worth billions of dollars and employing 8,000 worldwide.

His words of advice to the attendees were short but sweet:
-Recruit people who are smarter than you
-Listen to the people you hire
-Train your sales force to be business consultants, selling the solution and not the product

I also met Ajay Shah, the CEO of Hindunet http://www.hindunet.org/ which is now based in San Diego. In 1998 and 1999 Hindunet, a portal for Indian websites, gained attention for being one of the top 100 sites in the world.

One of the greatest things about the Tie San Diego meetings is the food. A full dinner and happy hour appetizers are catered by the famous Star of India restaurant http://www.starofindia.com/, and I happen to know that the food is one of the reasons that these meetings are so popular!

I also spoke briefly with Shabnam Miglani, who with her husband recently sold Softprose, Inc., a company creating software for the digital television industry. Now they are bootstrapping a new company that will provide digital engineering services for the same industry.

If you want to get a full dose of TiE (The Ind-US Entrepreneurs), plan on attending their upcoming annual conference called TiECON 2001, taking place on Saturday October 27th. It looks to be a very interesting and well-attended event!

I got a call the other day from Nancy Clark, CEO of WomensMedia.com http://www.womensmedia.com/. They are in the process of finalizing plans with Coaching.com, part of the Ken Blanchard group of companies, to collaborate on online training programs…a great market to get into now that business travel is cutting back. Clark has assembled a strong team of advisors and strategic partners, and is now seeking additional funding to complete the software development.

Another woman making waves here in San Diego is Carol Fuller, CEO of start-up Celyx, a an optical communications company creating optical and electronic interfaces for computer networks. Over the last three years the company has built a strong patent portfolio with nine in total (7 pending), and they are now in the beginning stages of formalizing advisors, engaging customers and raising funds. Fuller can be reached via email at mailto:cefullerceyx@cs.com

Clearly, good things are happening in San Diego!

Until next time!

Lilia Phleger Benjamin is the owner of digitElle, a small public relations agency providing market research, online strategies, and media planning. She is also the co-founder and managing director of Techniquelle, a networking organization for creative and tech-savvy people. Lilia can be reached by email at lilia@digitelle.net.

WWWAC Rocks wacky relief

Some might say it was comedy with a "k." Some might say it was a NY-version of an unofficial Burning Man. Some might say it was a wonderful attempt at community in the face of some real hurdles. However you looked at it, the WWWAC Rocks benefit on Tuesday, September 25th at the Luna Lounge brought together about 50 WWWAC-ies for a night of wacky music and community effort to raise funds for the UFA Widow's & Children's Fund.

Among the more colorful WWWAC list members were the vivacious "Mrs. J. Hart" (with her husband, who's not Mr. Hart), Paul Dube and Jen Runne. Larry Aronson made an appearance and board member Scott Bowling worked the door, collecting the donations, which he said "grew into the three figures."

The very fun and arty show was kicked off by board member Gary "Grimmwerks" Schafer who has an excellent voice and did a very good job singing four songs with a guitar. Board member Bob Frankel spoke for a bit on what WWWAC is doing regarding the crisis in New York and for relief efforts after the terrorist attacks. Bob then introduced the emcee for the evening, comedian Dan Cronin, who worked the cold crowd as best he could. When they heckled too much, he grabbed the hecklers and grilled them on stage. That'll show 'em!

"Pro Choice for Mental Health" was the first band up-when they finally got there. After being AWOL for about 45 minutes, their first "number" was a scripted play that the band members and people from the audience read off notepads in a stilted manner. When they finished this, the guitar player couldn't find his guitar (not hard to believe since there was an enormous amount of gear on the stage). So, over a microphone, he accused an audience member of stealing his guitar. Finally, they played for about five minutes and were quite upset when they were kicked off the stage. Harrumph!

"German Cars vs. American Homes" was up next and their exciting and fun act was seriously weird. The seven band members approached stage as crabs (walking sideways, arms akimbo) and with the exception of the bass player they all played keyboard guitars. As their documentary "guy" filmed everything they did, but wouldn't tell anyone what he was doing or what was going on, the band rapped, screamed and did call/response type antics for their set.

Board member Steve Masur's band "Noisy Le Grand" played next. Their set was characterized by heavy punk rock and the typical screeching that accompanies. It was punctuated when fellow band member Lars asked someone to "beer" him and Steve sprayed him with a cold brewsky. The evening ended with a resounding success to many hoots and hollers. The success of this night was in the community-development department. With a bit more notice and planning, WWWAC Rocks 2.0 will surely be a bigger and badder benefit.

Monday, September 24, 2001

The Cyber Scene in Denver ~ Suzanne Lainson

On September 24, TiE-Rockies (The IndUS Entrepreneurial Group) (http://www.tie-rockies.org) had its first anniversary gathering at the Brown Palace. The World Trade Center disaster was still on everyone's mind and that was acknowledged both by a moment of silence and a discussion of fundraising efforts that one of the keynote speakers, Lata Krishnan, was heading up as current president of the America Indian Foundation.

She co-founded SMART Technologies Inc., and served as its CFO. In her speech, she talked about having climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the only woman with twelve men. Then she talked about starting a company, that she and her other co-founders were risk takers, and how they invested their own money into the company. After one year, the company hit $3 million in revenue. They didn't rush into going public because they were having so much fun and didn't have to worry about the next quarter's results. They finally decided to do an IPO in order to grow by acquisition. When they decided to sell the company to Solectron, they did so because it was the best plan for their employees. She said she is a cancer survivor, which has given her a sense of urgency about life. Now that she is doing philanthropic work, she still applies what she learned in business. She asks herself before approaching donors, "What are my deliverables?"

The other keynote speaker was Kanwal Rekhi, founder and former president of TiE-Global, which currently has 30 active chapters worldwide. In 1987, Mr. Rekhi, as its CEO, took Excelan public. In 1989 he merged his computer networking business with Novell, where he served as the CTO and a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 1995. You can read more about what he said at http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001825&author=Lainson

Many of the TiE-Rockies founders were in attendance, including Vipanj Patel, Sureel Choksi, Vic Ahmed, Aloke Guha, and Maya Iyengar. I spent quite a bit of time with one of my favorite people, Dilpreet Jammu of Nortel Networks.

On September 25, the Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group (http://www.rmiug.org) met to hear Christopher Locke talk about his new book, "Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst Practices." (http://www.gonzomarkets.com) He's also the co-author of the bestseller, "The Cluetrain Manifesto." Among his comments:

His bio says he's a web consultant, but he says that's the biggest joke since he hasn't done any consulting for a long time. Companies are afraid to ask him to consult.

He makes between $20,000 to $30,000 for a one-hour speech. Once he made a 36-hour flight to India for a one-hour speech. He'll never do that again.

He spoke to the Direct Marketing Association, but they were not amused, particularly when he said, "All you need is love." But if you don't know how to be human, you have bigger problems than your those in your business.

He left his alter-ego, RageBoy, home that night. In an attempt to give a prepared speech, he worked from his notes, though linear presentations are out of character for him

The title of his book includes "winning through worst practices." He thought it was funny and wanted to use it, but then had to figure out if he could do anything with the concept.

Cluetrain was about communication, but after it came out, people asked him how they were going to talk to a million customers. The reality is that some voices are more equal than others. But at the same time, the web is not about broadcasting. It isn't "slow TV." Some broadband advocates were using Blockbuster's numbers to justify video-on-demand until they found out that Blockbuster makes 30% of its revenue from late fees.

Mass media didn't come about until mass production. Its purpose was to move excess production. A mass market is the result of inefficiencies in data collection and independent thought. Demographic segmentation has defined marketing in our lifetime. CRM isn't going to sound like a conversation. If it does, it will cost you a bundle to give personalized service to individuals. Businesses didn't start paying attention to the Internet until enough people were connected that it began to look to them like a mass market. They saw it as TV with a "buy" button.

Micromedia, specialized sites directed to niche interests, delivers high energy and a strong point of view, but is small enough to fly under the radar. He suggests that large corporations such as Ford associate themselves with these smaller sites rather than to advertise on the big, impersonal portals. You can find out more about what Chris said at http://www.emilehigh.com/news/viewnews.asp?alt=100001824&author=Lainson

Among those attending were Dan Murray of Persona, Greg Lynott of Lynott & Associates, Richard Sharp of TrueTrek, Cate Lawrence of Warrior Solutions, Robert Welch of Tango Technologies, Mark Feuer, and Jim LeJeal.



Friday, September 21, 2001

More benefits - past and future

As reported above, most every event this week took on a new purpose and raised money for the various funds set up to assist in efforts after the disaster on Tuesday.
The Grimaldi Group, a private equity consultancy specialized in operations management, announced plans to launch an international rescue fund to facilitate the recovery of businesses ravaged in the terrorist attack on New York City. They are involving large and small institutions, including banking groups, large corporations, and governments to finance small businesses of New York that need assistance. http://www.rescuenewyork.com/

The members of America's movie theatre industry have identified Tuesday, September 25th, 2001 as "Victims' Benefit Day at the Movies." On this day, 100% of ticket and concession sales at participating movie theatres nationwide will be donated to the September 11th Fund of the United Way, and the American Red Cross for this disaster and the emerging needs resulting from this tragedy. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross and 50% will be donated to the United Way. A list of participating theatre companies is at: the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) website.

Hotjobs's director of Public Relations, Fianna Sogomonyan, sent out an email announcing a Web site some of her friends created: http://remember-wtc.org/. Their hopes are that it will serve as a growing memorial to the survivors, the missing and the deceased, and also provide forensic clues for identifying the dead. The site is similar to other sites in that it provides the names of victims, but it gives users the opportunity to enter detailed information about their loved ones and upload a photo. It also enables users to search the database by name, enabling people to hopefully find their loved ones. This site has no affiliation to HotJobs and for more information about this site, please e-mail its creator, Allen Murabayashi, at: allen3@aya.yale.edu.

Laurel Touby, of Media Bistro fame, is hosting her next cocktail party for media types as a voluntary Red Cross fund-raising drive Tuesday night, September 25th.

The New York eComm set up a donation section on their site for the American Red Cross. NYNMA has a list of helpful resources and information.

NYSIA's nice actions

Always one quick to action, NYSIA's president, Bruce Bernstein, spoke with me on Friday about the efforts they've undertaken to assist companies affected by the tragedy on Tuesday, September 11th. Their "clicks and bricks strategy" to offer emergency business assistance to companies that have been dislocated and are suffering from after-effects is several-fold. There are forms for people to offer assistance ranging from supplies, equipment, services and office space. If your firm has been affected by the disaster, you can also fill out a form explaining your needs and requesting these items or services. Currently they have had 70 offers of equipment, services and supplies and 65 offers of space available for companies to use. Also quite efficient and effective is their relocated company directory. List yourself here so other firms and people can find you!

Following Senator Charles Schumer's call for all New Yorkers to fly the flag, NYSIA is asking all New York City companies, in all industries, to put one of the twelve flag banner designs on their Web site home pages. The banner was created by board member Michael Pinto (CEO, Vanguard Media). Going forward, Bruce and NYSIA will be working hard to see that some disaster relief money coming into New York will be earmarked for technology companies. Additionally, their big annual event, the Software Summit, has been moved to January and has changed themes to be about "Rebuilding New York." In the meantime, their community meeting on Monday, October 1st will be a chance for people to gather and discuss how to rebuild their businesses, the industry and the city. Co-sponsored by The Cyber Scene you can find out more details at www.nysia.org.

The Three R's: Rescue, relief, repair

It is said that sleep is restorative but for the city that never sleeps, there's been a flurry of activity to rebuild and rejuvenate physically and psychically from last week's atrocious attacks.

For the obvious reasons most every event scheduled for last week was either cancelled or postponed. This week, however, at the encouragement from Mayor Giuliani and President Bush, New Yorkers began resuming their lives by going back to work and getting out. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, so many ripples of effect are still reverberating from last Tuesday's nightmare. And one of those sad effects is the imminent closing of many Broadway productions. Again, Giuliani, with the interests of the city, its residents and visitors at heart, spoke passionately about the importance to try and resume our lives and go do things: go to the restaurants, attend theater and other cultural performances, visit the landmarks, go to the parks and stadiums. Live our lives. By doing this, we show the world and the terrorists that we are not and will not be ultimately defeated. And while we may feel defeated and deflated by what happened last Tuesday, Giuliani and Bush are correct and appropriate in their gentle prodding.

Silicon Alley rallied and almost every scheduled event this week (and a few new ones) added a benefit angle to them. Most every Web site for local (and national) businesses had mention of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, condolences to the victims' families and some demonstration of support with links to leading funds for donations.

>> CYBER SCENE SOCIAL NOTES ~ 9/21/01


In an attempt to help facilitate better networking for new media professionals and "Scenesters," here are some points that will be added during the weeks. They will be archived.

** During this time of national tragedy, it's more important than ever to treat each other with kindness and compassion. Before being abrupt or gruff with someone, remember, we're all fragile humans and need to give each other space.

TCS Intro ~ 9/21/01

Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene ~ September 21, 2001

>> THIS WEEK
The Three R's: Rescue, relief, repair
Pink Slip Party Establishes New Cause
Cocktails with Courtney Firefighter's benefit
EuroCircle circles in Europeans support
NYSIA's nice actions
More benefits - past and future

>> REGULAR FEATURES
Cyber Scene Social Notes
Shakers and Stirrers
Bits & Bytes

>> SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE
"The Cyber Scene" is published weekly. Subscriptions are free. To
subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.pulitzer.com/subunsub.html

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>> CORPORATE PARTNERS
Sparklist -- Mailing list services
http://SparkLIST.com/

>> UPCOMING EVENTS
Stardust Circle ~ October 3 ~ NYC
Sponsored by Ardesta ~ www.ardesta.com
The Business of Nanotechnology

Stardust Circle ~ October 4 ~ NYC
Wireless: what's getting funded and why?

Cocktails with Courtney ~ October 16 ~ NYC
Sponsored by 3 Legged Dog ~ www.3leggeddog.org

=================================================

Thursday, September 20, 2001

EuroCircle circles in Europeans support

Man-about-town Bernardo was leading the charge, as is his typical charming nature. And on Thursday, September 20th he rallied folks from my cocktail party (me included) to stop by the EuroCircle event across the street on the spectacular 42nd floor Estrala Penthouse atop the Le Parker Meridien hotel.

Founded in January 1999 by Kaisa Kokkonen the EuroCircle is an informal network of European professionals where ideas, thoughts and information are exchanged between European and non-European individuals, companies and other institutions. There is an on-line community at EuroCircle.com and an off-line community via it's events. With over 65 countries represented, and with events in thirteen cities, they are quickly becoming one of the de facto networking organizations for Europeans.

After the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Centers, which had people from 80 other countries, in addition to the United States, in the towers, the EuroCircle began getting hundreds of emails from other chapters expressing their sadness, sympathy and solidarity with New Yorkers. Some hoped the EuroCircle could help them locate missing loved ones. Many wanted to contribute to the relief efforts but didn't know which funds were reputable. As a result, the EuroCircle's event became a fundraiser as well. They collected donations from people and will send them on to one of the four leading established charities.

From the pretty views Central Park and midtown on the terrace, I chatted with some of the guests and EuroCircle director of logistics Victor Voloshin. He was quick to point out that they felt having the event as a benefit was very important. He also mentioned that religious and ethnic tolerance is a guiding principle of EuroCircle and now, more than ever, we must be vigilant about prejudices and not blindly attack Arab Americans, Middle Easterners or members of the Islamic faith. They will continue to provide a community and support network for Europeans and based on the strength in numbers last Thursday night, it seems they'll be going strong for a while.

Cocktails with Courtney Firefighter's benefit

It took a shock to our stock market, a decline in the tech industry, thousands of layoffs, a slow summer and then the greatest national tragedy our country has ever experienced, but this month's Cocktails with Courtney event was actually one of the nicer ones. One of the original goals I had for my party series was to create an event to get together with friends in the industry. And on Thursday, September 20th I held the cocktail party as a benefit for the New York Firefighter's 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. From 6:30 PM till about 9:00 PM, a little over thirty friends came by to have a Bombay martini cocktail and some hors d'oeuvres, compliments of the Carnegie Club. The group was small but strong in their support of each other and the fund and all together raised over $700 for the fund. My sincere thanks to all those who came. Please note that we will be planning our holiday benefit, which will have ties to raising money for relief associated with the September 11th tragedy. If you are interested in participating, please email me: courtney@pulitzer.com.

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Pink Slip Party Establishes New Cause

Allison Hemming is used to taking advantage of a negative situation and rallying a cause to support it. With her popular Pink Slip Parties she created a venue for those out of work to commiserate, drink and network. This week, she shifted gears and established, with the assistance of Webgrrls' NYC Chapter Leader Eileen Shulock, the SiliconAlleyCares.org Web site and benefit. When Eileen and she kept getting hundreds of email requests asking "how can I help?" they got together to build a site and organize volunteers. Eileen coined "Silicon Alley Cares" and the site aims to be a command central for Silicon Alley-ites who wish to volunteer. The site is a consortium of individuals, companies, and organizations committed to channeling the care and generosity of our industry and city into tangible effort that makes a difference.

Held on Wednesday, September 19th at Hush, the benefit's goal was to raise funds for the United Way's September 11th Fund. While at press time we don't know how much funds they raised, they have been busy coordinating volunteers. Thus far Eileen reports that "for the past eight days nonstop [she has] sent 70+ data entry and IT volunteers to various Red Cross projects." With an offer of 4,000 Webgrrls at their service, they began getting to work organizing shifts of 20 at a time around the clock. They've placed over 400 people thus far. Eileen also commented that "in the end, the Internet works for its original intended use, as I was able to rally a group of volunteers by email when nothing else was working... and there are so many tech people who want to help...It's a good thing. They have done wonders, those volunteers." For more information and to register to volunteer, please go to http://www.SiliconAlleyCares.org.

Friday, September 14, 2001

Reflections on 'America the Beautiful'

Katharine Lee Bates wrote in 1893 about our beautiful country and all its God-given glory in "America the Beautiful." Ever since I was in elementary school and began learning its lyrics, it has been one of my favorite songs. Of course our national anthem is equally as grand. But to sing about the natural beauties of our country, all our goodliness, good neighborliness, greatness in liberty, law, richness of spirit and ability to be successful in enterprise-is even more inspiring for me. Below I've explored the lyrics in light of our horrific tragedy on September 11th, 2001.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

Sadly, this past week, our spacious "friendly" skies were used against us by a group of people who were jealous of all that America stands for.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

We are a blessed nation, and are graced with a river of patriotism that runs deeper than any hot- or cold-blooded American might've ever suspected. Never has our country been so attacked. As a result, many have been witness to an outpouring of brotherly and sisterly love for friend, neighbor and stranger. American's across the country have been coming together and coming to New York to lend a hand to help, a shoulder to cry on and so many other ways in an effort to help.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stem impassioned - stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!

Since our pilgrim heritage we are known as a nation that fought for freedom: religious freedom, freedom from over-taxation and many other personal and political freedoms. Across the wilderness, across the countryside, we are a nation that stands for and stresses freedom. Our pilgrim feet, our American feet, our citizens, are so passionate to the very core of our beings that we have fought hard and bitterly here and abroad for what our country represents. We are being told we will be doing so once again.

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Our great nation is one in which we believe God (whomever this is for you) mends all our nations flaws and confirms the soul of our nation in self-control (we are not out-of-control in how we deal with any issue). This is especially apparent in the thoughtful, methodical, exacting and intelligent way our leaders are proceeding with statements about the tragedy, our reaction and the actions that we'll take. Our liberty is inherent in our laws.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!

We are a beautiful nation because our country was founded and fought by heroes who loved their country more than their own lives. This was proven again on September 11th with the reports of the few men on the United Airlines flight 93 who apparently attacked the vicious hijackers and risked their lives to save hundreds more at a fourth target. In this selfless act they demonstrated mercy for a far greater number of Americans than their own lives.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

America is often seen as a promise-land, a land of milk and honey and streets paved with gold. And compared to many other countries, these stereotypes are true. Our nation is so blessed that our riches are refined and we are one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We are one of the most successful nations in the world, so successful that our success is noble-others strive for it. Our advancements in technology, science, the arts, human rights and many other areas are nearly divine compared to many other countries. Of course, we're not perfect and there are many people who would contest our actual wealth, our true success these days and argue vehemently about our "divine gains." However, coming from the perspective of how far we've come since the founding of our nation and the advancements we've made, our nation is one of true greatness in all these areas. So much so that it had struck a chord of pure evil and hatred in a man and an organization intent on trying to take it down.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!

Our patriotic dream has withstood the test of time. Since 1776 and our revolutionary break from England, between 1860 and 1865 and our internal strife with the Civil War, during the 1960s segregation disintegration and the 1970s conflict over Vietnam, we have had some strife within. Yet, ultimately and when pushed, Americans are united and stand together. This patriot dream has lasted over the years to see our nation as gleaming and sparkly with our magnificent cities. And the human tears that have been shed over the 225 years of our nation's life thus far have not dimmed the gleam of our cities and our beautiful nation. Especially this week, we've all shed many tears, and yet New York City, Washington DC and all our cities will continue to shine brightly. We will not let the inhuman destruction that we've experienced dampen our spirits nor blur our vision.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

In spite of, or despite, the unfair, barbaric way we had been treated, we pray to God to grace our nation until everyone is as right and fair as the earth, the air and seas are true and good. Seeing pure evil taking over our innocent, benevolent technological advancements (airplanes) and wreaking havoc in our airspace (our skies), so that our earth has become devastated (with these crashes), our nation has been in prayer for God's grace on us.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

More prayers have gone out asking for God (however she/he/it is embodied for you) to give us grace until the vicious thinking of terrorists be invaded and destroyed whether it by soldier on foot, hands and knees or (since we have the capabilities) machine.

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!

For our freedom, for our tales of glory of liberation, for all the freedoms we enjoy, we've had to expend many precious lives. We're being told more lives will be lost as our nation's leaders prepare us for the first war of the 21st century. And this is the price we have and will pay for our continued freedoms. And yet many of these freedoms and conveniences we so luxuriously enjoy will be rescinded as our nation experiences a backlash into more security concerns.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

Among the prayers called out over this past week, there have been prayers for our nation and its safety. We will continue to ask for God's grace until we no longer have selfish, inhumane barbarians staining our great flag, magnificent buildings, grand Nation and all that these represent for their petty, warped goals.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

Again, a prayer for God to bless us until we once again have noble leaders keeping us safe and we can experience the jubilant, heady days of prosperity, peace and love for our nation, one another and the world at large.

======================================================

To read more thoughts (personal and reflective), please visit TheCyberScene.com where we have also listed a short list of sites with more resource links.

God Bless You All. God Bless America. My deepest prayers go out to the victims of all the crashes, their families, to those still missing and their families. To the survivors I hope we can slowly heal our wounds and take this horrific tragedy to be stronger individually and as a nation. We can never forget and must always remember so we prohibit history from repeating itself.

Most of you have come to expect this newsletter on Friday's before noon, but I have been experimenting with a new distribution date-Monday mornings. If you have any opinions on which time you prefer, let me know and I'll see if I will continue as usual or try something new.

Don't forget to buy stocks and show your support for our nation and belief in its economic strength.

Courtney’s Compilation of Helpful Numbers, Resources and Action Items


Useful websites with more links than listed here:


Report to the FBI any information about the tragic acts of terrorism upon the United States: www.ifccfbi.gov.

Donate/Volunteer

American Red Cross, cash donations - (800) HELP-NOW
American Red Cross, blood donations - (800) 448-3543
Salvation Army, cash donations - (800) SAL-ARMY
Doctors willing to volunteer their help should call (518) 431-7600
Blood donors in upstate New York may call (800) 448-3543 or (800) 272-4543; donors in the New York City region may call (800) 692-5663 or (800) 933-2566

Amazon.com is enabling people to support relief efforts by making a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. You can contribute from $1 to $100--any donation is greatly appreciated. ALL donated money will go to the Red Cross to help victims of this and other tragedies--Amazon.com is waiving its usual fees. http://www.amazon.com/paypage/PKAXFNQH7EKCX

* The United Way of New York City and the New York Community Trust have established a fund to help the victims of the attacks and their families. The September 11th Fund has been set up to provide immediate support to emergency assistance agencies. Contributions will be used to respond to the urgent needs of victims and their families. Donations should be sent care of United Way of New York City, 2 Park Ave, New York, New York, 10016, or call 212-251-4035. Donations are also being accepted on United Way of New York City's Web site: http://www.uwnyc.org/

Webgrrls is arranging for tech support and data entry for the Red Cross at their location on Amsterdam Avenue. Contact Eileen Shulock for more information: 212-260-7882. nyc@WEBGRRLS.COM

Information

U.S. State Department Task Force - (703) 302-6851
Justice Dept. Office of Victims of Crime (national clearinghouse for victims and family members) - (800) 331-0075
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - (202) 646-4600

Information on Employees/People within the WTC’s/Pentagon/Airplanes during the time of the attack
American Airlines - (800) 245-0999
United Airlines - (800) 932-8555
Morgan Stanley (World Trade Center tragedy hotline) - (888) 883-4391, visit www.morganstanley.com or e-mail status@discoverfinancial.com.
Bear Stearns - (877) 826-2327
Oppenheimer - http://oppenheimer.com/
Deutsche Bank - (410) 895-2029
Cantor Fitzgerald Crisis Center — (212) 940-8162; (212) 940-8482; (212) 940-8492; (212) 893-6073
eSpeed — (866) 326-3188
Empire Blue Cross — (866) 761-8265
Carr Futures — (800)-755-7620
Lee Hecht Harrison — (201) 782-3704
Securities and Exchange Commission (employees) — (877) 404-3222
Port Authority (employees) — (973) 565-5501
Aon Corporation — (866) 256-4154
Weatherly Securities (employees and clients) — (800) 835-3015
Pentagon personnel - (877) 663-6772
Empire Blue Cross employees - (866) 761-8265

St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center (NYC) Patients' Hotline - (212) 604-7285
Marriott Assistance Center - (866)-866-9928 (from outside the U.S. and Canada, call collect at (941)-541-1725
 
NY.com -http://www.ny.com/wtclist.html contains updated list of survivors, along with their condition when appropriate.

Positive, Healing, Helpful Action Items


Candlelight Vigil:
At 7:00 p.m. EST step out your door, stop your car, or step out of your establishment and light a candle.   We will show the world that Americans are strong and united together against terrorism.  Please pass
this to everyone on your e-mail list.  We need to reach everyone across the United States.

Buying Stocks:
Based on an email: “No doubt you have heard dire predictions about the financial devastation that will occur when the US stock market re-opens. This will be a second devastating attack on America if we allow it to happen. We DON'T have to allow it to happen. Here's what YOU can do to help prevent it... 

When the markets re-open, in a show of support and solidarity, BUY at least one share of stock in a U.S. company. Open your minds to imagine what a SLAP in the face of terrorism it would be if the American markets actually RISE instead of PLUNGE when they re-open! Can you think of a STRONGER message we could send to those who would seek to destroy our way of life? If you DON'T own stock and don't have a stock account, you can do it quickly and easily and cheaply. This e-mail is sponsored by no one, so if you also have a suggestion for people without stock accounts, please add that information before you forward this e-mail. This e-mail is started by an average citizen just like you. WE can create an unbelievably POSITIVE revolution by participating wholeheartedly in this movement to support the US economy. If we all participate in a massive stock sell off, then we are BOWING to terrorism. We do NOT have to do that. We have a choice. People by the hundreds of thousands are lining up to donate one pint of blood. Think of the effect we can have if we line up in the same way to "donate" to the American economy! For very little money you can DO something to show would-be terrorists that they will NOT win. 

If you are willing to dismiss this because you are "just one person," then look at the footage that's being replayed constantly on the TV and consider the tremendous impact that just a dozen people had on our world yesterday. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Take part in this revolution and forward this e-mail to everyone on your mailing list. We can reverse the tide of the finanical carnage throughout the world just by doing that. WHEN THE US MARKETS RE-OPEN, BUY AT LEAST ONE SHARE OF STOCK IN A U.S COMPANY. Imagine the headlines we will read when we all make this happen..."US Financial Victory -- Of the People, By the People, and For the People." Respond with STRENGTH instead of FEAR when the US Markets open. In that way, and ONLY in that way, WE win!

Local Sites Around the Country

Alex Chaffee -- http://www.stinky.com/wtc/ -- updates on people in NY, stories, survivors

The Recognition Group Team – http://www.recognitiongroup.net/wtc/donated_goods.html --  coordinating office space, supplies for local companies

Business Relief Diaster Fund -- www.thecodefactory.com -- The Code Factory, working in conjunction with lending institutions and technical partners, is offering its services free and at cost for any business or organization affected by the tragedy surrounding the WTC. The Code Factory's Business Disaster Relief Effort offers flexible payment and financing terms on the hardware, software and services required in this time of need. The program is specially designed to give budgets the extra boost it deserves in the wake of this month's events.

Gaspedal offers “Stay Strong” tips: subscribe: majordomo@gaspedal.net with “subscribe
staystrong” in the body

Offices2share.com has set up their Web site to allow people to DONATE office space to
displaced WTC companies.  Any revenue that we receive on those listings for donated space will be donated by us to the September 11th Fund operated by the United Way of NYC to provide aid to the victims of this horrific tragedy and their families.

Coaches from Around the Country Volunteering Their Services for those in need of experts in grief, loss, stress and trauma. If you or someone you know is in need of support due to the tragic and traumatic events on September 11, 2001 please let me know.  People in need of support should email Support@CoachingCircles.com or Janice@CoachingCircles.com or call toll free 866.244.9441, 212.244.9441, 212.706.0092 or 917.969.5407.  Since our offices are in NYC we are having trouble with phone lines so email works better.

A poem by Dylan Thomas



Dylan Thomas wrote, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night...."

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lighting they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


>> CYBER SCENE SOCIAL NOTES ~ 9/14/01


In an attempt to help facilitate better networking for new media professionals and "Scenesters," here are some points that will be added during the weeks. They will be archived.

** When dealing with feelings of anger, sadness, depression and more, remember this is a time to be gentle to yourself and others. Try and find the healthiest outlet you can, whether it is crying, exercising, painting, journaling, singing, praying or anything else, and use that for vent of your feelings. Don't take it out on others.

TCS Intro ~ 9/14/01

Courtney Pulitzer's Cyber Scene ~ September 14, 2001

>> THIS WEEK
Reflections on 'America the Beautiful'

>> REGULAR FEATURES
Cyber Scene Social Notes

>> SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE
"The Cyber Scene" is published weekly. Subscriptions are free. To
subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.pulitzer.com/subunsub.html

http://www.ewomp.com/CustomSolutions/cgi-bin/imgclk2.pl?id=P1N1H5R1&sid=161

>> CORPORATE PARTNERS
Sparklist -- Mailing list services
http://SparkLIST.com/

>> UPCOMING EVENTS
POSTPONED ~ September 12 ~ Morning Circle ~ NYC
Sponsored by Lumiere and Fashion.Net ~ www.lumiere.com
"Fashion and Technology: The intricate woven pattern of influence"
How the fashion and technology industries influence each other, or not?

September 20 ~ Cocktails with Courtney ~ Austin, TX
Sponsored by Exodus ~ www.exodus.net

September 20 ~ Cocktails with Courtney ~ NYC
Sponsored by Microsoft ~ www.microsoft.com

October 3 ~ Stardust Circle ~ NYC
Sponsored by Ardesta ~ www.ardesta.com
The Business of Nanotechnology

October 4 ~ Stardust Circle ~ NYC
Wireless: what's getting funded and why?

October 16 ~ Cocktails with Courtney ~ NYC
Sponsored by 3 Legged Dog ~ www.3leggeddog.org

=================================================

Friday, September 07, 2001

The Cyber Scene in Seattle ~ by Larry Sivitz

When the going gets tough, Seattle's toughest get going to...Safeco Field? 


While Microsoft stock took a beating on the Nasdaq the day before Labor Day weekend, and reports continued to circulate that the European Union was expanding its investigation against the juggernaut, were the 20,000 Microsofties who gathered at Safeco Field for the company's annual employee meeting, well, glum? Get a clue! They whooped and cheered as if they were watching the Mariners hit the ball out of the park and notch up another win in extra innings! 

Making his pitch from the middle of the ball field, Chairman Bill Gates looked like the latest closer out of the M's bullpen as he laid out his vision for computing in the coming decade. Company Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, who leapt out of a cake at last year's 25th-anniversary meeting, gave an impassioned speech about the opportunities facing the company and employees. On the stadium's diamond-vision? Why, demo's from upcoming X-Box software, of course. 

This has been a year of identity diffusion for Seattlelites, with Boeing relocating its corporate headquarters to Chicago, and Microsoft headlining the public enemies list, not to mention the potential anti-trust duopoly initiative in the music space occupied by MusicNet and Pressplay. Still, the Web-footed among us have not lost our sense of purpose, or of humor. 

Case in point: Last Spring, two young Russian hackers were arrested and indicted after the FBI set up a bogus Internet-start-up firm in Seattle, aptly called "Invita," and let the men hack into it. They were quickly UnInvita.
And the Emerald City (that's E-city to you and me) is rapidly becoming the Internet gaming capitol of the world. I don't just mean Microsoft's penultimate X-Box. Each day, RealNetwork's RealArcade attracts and retains enough game "buyers" to fill Seattle's Husky Stadium to the roof -- people who not only enjoy playing games online, but who have also downloaded one or more virtually shrink-wrapped demo's for offline play. Can you say "new game sales and distribution model?" 

In fact, RealArcade is much more than the world's up-and-coming biggest game store. It's also the engine of a complete online gaming system that can help users download, install and manage their game play. And it's the platform for a dazzling array of Web-based games, including Smallball (imagine "The Sims," Major League Baseball and Tamagotchi rolled into one). The success of your team of miniature sim-ulated baseball players depends on how long and how well you train them and develop their personalities as time goes by. 

Microsoft's Gaming Zone is also seeing its casual gaming audience swell. Brand new from "The Zone," those wonderful folks who brought you the 6,000 player VGA (Virtual Golfer's Association) and the fantasy role-playing adventure known as Asheron's Call, comes a new celebrity-based game show called "OutSmart." The "PC Gameshow" challenges players to test their pop culture knowledge against the stars themselves-and attempt to beat them at their own fame. The "OutSmart" pilot episode starred TV's 'Dark Angel" and top cyber-babe Jessica Alba. Upcoming celebrity challengers include Grammy award-winning reggae musician Shaggy, the last decade's biggest-selling female Mariah Carey, double platinum hip-hop star Sisqo and the Soul Train Music Award host and R&B singer Mya. A new episode featuring a different celebrity will air twice a month with previous games available for play in the "OutSmart" Gallery. 

Even Sierra has jumped into the "game show" business as the software manufacturer behind the plethora of "You Don't Know Jack" trivia games, now being supported by a new prime time television show of the same name.
On the simmering cyber social scene, impresario Khody Golshan of PR firm MWW Savitt continues to host the local chatterati every two weeks at Dot.tales and Cocktails, his biweekly soirees' held amidst the luxurious flora and decor of the Garden Court inside Seattle's original grande dame - The Four Season's Hotel. Or you can catch the dot.tales Net set at the bohemian Zig-Zag Club on the Pike Place Hill Climb. Last month, Khody could also be found shmoozing at the bar of Dimitriou's Jazz Alley with none other than Woody Allen when the latter's dixieland jazz band pulled into town for a rousing two-night gig. 

One of Seattle's most outgoing Internet groups is the Seattle Network (seattlenetwork.com), founded by impresarios Dan Sundgren and Kristine Asin (co-founder Tim Reha having moved on to the Seattle Investor Forum). SON's third-Tuesday membership meetings have attracted the otherwise un-unified local community of Internet-related workers. It's easy to see why: gatherings have been held at venues such as Safeco Field, the Seattle Aquarium and the Museum of Flight. 

Success for some of Seattle's special-interest groups has not been without growing pains, however. When Betsy Aoki, a user-interface designer with Pacific Edge Software, founded the Seattle chapter of jWebgrrls International six years ago, there were about a half-dozen women in the free-membership group. Roughly a year later, WGI grew to 800, and last fall the chapter totaled about 3,300 women. Around that time, membership dues were mandated by the national Webgrrls office, sparking a city-wide debate on the dot-org's profit-oriented (vs. non-profit) status and the Webgrrls e-mail list-an unsurpassed source of local job openings and tech support-was temporarily shut down to restructure and reorganize. Before the cyberdust settled, though, many women had already left to join Digital Eve (digitaleve.org) , another women's technology organization that, for the most part, operates fee-free. Since taking over the Seattle Chapter, Webgrrl's new leader, Jeanette Stanhope, has brought a new sense of purpose to the group - finding its members gainful employment and career resources. 

For sheer altitude, the pinnacle of the Seattle Cyber Scene has to be the quarterly TechViews events organized by Chase Norlin, CEO of ShareYourWorld.com, in conjunction with the Tower Club inside Seattle's largest skyscraper, the Bank of America Center. Convened on the 75th and 76th floors of the tower, the spreads are lavish, VC's charming and the cigar smoke intoxicating full inside the designated cigar, deal and port room. Former ZDNet Anchorman Jesse Berst is a frequent master of ceremonies, Goldman Sachs an ongoing sponsor.
Go Mariners! (For high-quality, imported, northwest Web marketing talent, correspondent Larry Sivitz can be recruited from larry@ideabank.com or larry@seattle24x7.com